deadspacefandomcom-20200223-history
Necromorphs
The Necromorphs are the horribly mutated, reanimated corpses of humans, and they serve as the antagonists of Dead Space. These creatures are extremely aggressive, and will attempt to kill any non-necromorph creature on sight. The sole purpose of almost all Necromorphs is to create more bodies to infect, while the role of one particular creature, the Infector, is to infect corpses to make more Necromorphs. Origin First Aegis 7 Incident The DNA patterns covering the surface of the Black and Red Markers are the codes for the Necromorph infection as noted in the logs as a "recombinant life form". According to data logs the first known Necromorph infection was during the reverse engineering project of the Black Marker subsequently creating the Red Marker, which occurred on Aegis 7 hundreds of years ago by the original Aegis 7 doctors, who had set up on the planet as a lab area to test the Marker and it's effects a safe distance away from any human civilization. The Aegis 7 doctors copied and recreated the lifeform using the DNA patterns listed on the Markers, resulting in the creation of the lifeform. Initially the "recombinant life form" existed only in a petri-dish and remained dormant (what exactly the lifeform resembled is unknown). The lifeform didn't react to any of the doctor's tests, and was about to be deemed a failure. However, one day, a doctor didn't fully decontaminate himself when entering the lab, and a few dead skin cells fell into the petri dish. As such, the infection by the recombinant lifeform immediately activated and reanimated the dead skin cells (what the skin cells reanimated into isn't detailed). The Red Marker actually inhibited the necrotic flesh testing and it was then that the scientists noticed that it produced an apparent "dead space" field, inhibiting the Necromorph infection from spreading. Soon afterwards, a similar accident similar to the petri-dish incident resulted in the infection and deaths of two doctors; and immediately after dying, the two doctors transformed into the very first Necromorphs (one doctor became a Leaper, the other an Infector). This was when the original colony disaster began. The Leaper and Infector were initially contained, but the Leaper found and broke through a nearby ventilation shaft, breaching the colony. It began to kill the other doctors, which the Infector transformed, and the first outbreak commenced. While it is known that all of the doctors on Aegis 7 were killed, very little is detailed on what events transpired after the creatures escaped. A log reveals that after the initial catastrophe began on Aegis 7 that they somehow expanded the projection of the dead space field emmited from The Red Marker to contain the Necromorph Hive Mind and all infection present on the planet. Since the Marker is found hundreds of years later on it's pedestal on the barren surface of the planet, it is suggested that they were succesful. There are two unique Necromorphs, the Leviathan and the Slug, both of which are large and grotesque blobs of flesh, which utilizes their tentacles to attack. How they're created and from what is unknown, but they may be independent organisms or an extreme offshot of the Brute Necromorph (i.e made from combining several different corpses). There is a low probability that the Necromorph virus is a natural occurrence, as it is attributed to the Black Marker or to the reverse-engineered Red Marker based upon it, though the exact nature of the relationship between the Necromorphs and the Black Marker, and by extension the religion Unitology which was built around the latter, is impossible to determine. Transformation Once infected, the transformation of a dead body into a Necromorph is extremely quick (with certain exceptions such as Leapers), typically happening in a matter of seconds (the transformation actually occurs in exactly 10 seconds, according to the game producers). This transformation is extremely gruesome and distubing for observers. The body of the Necromorph host is forced into new twisted shapes to fit the function of the newly spawned creature. The actual type of Necromorph created stems entirely on the location and circumstances, as well as the host body's current form. For example, Lurkers are created from any infant human. The bacteria responsible for the infection is also referred to as 'The Corruption' in background logs. All Necromorphs are extremely hardy and capable of surviving in lethal environments no human without appropriate protection could even venture into, such as the vacuum of space. Dismemberment Necromorphs are resilient creatures, and will never stop coming no matter how many bullets are fired into them. Countless have died due to not knowing the only true way to kill the Necromorphs: dismemberment. The only way to kill the creatures is to literally rip them to pieces; remove the head, arms, legs, and other appendages until the creature is killed. Dubbed "Strategic Dismemberment" by the Dead Space game team, Strategic Dismemberment is the act of strategically removing the limbs of the creatures. Each creature has it's own strategies when it comes to dismemberment: some creatures will simply die after enough limbs have been removed, some creatures will die instantly if a specific limb is cut off, while some creatures will become even more of a threat if shot in the wrong place. Learning how to dismember creatures is mostly done through trial-and-error. However, knowing dismemberment is the only way to stop the reanimated horrors in their tracks is the best way to survive. Strangley enough, dismembering a Necromorphs head dosen't render them compleatly harmless and useless, and are somehow still able to attck you. How this is done is unknown, but it could be the Hive Mind and it's telepathic powers, or some form of internal body sensor, or the Necromorphs have multiple eyes. Trivia *The Necromorph creature designs were partly inspired by the movie ''The Thing. *In Latin "Necromorph" means "changed/changing dead." *Interestingly enough the standard way a Necromorph kills its victims is the exact same way to kill it, by dismemberment and mutilation. This is both ironic and counterproductive to effectively and efficiently spreading the infection and creating more Necromorphs. *The Necromorphs do not attack those under the influence of the Markers, as showed in the comics Natalia Deshyanov was not attacked by the Nercromorphs as she was making her way to the rover bay, only observed. *As further ispiration for the design of the Necromorphs the design team studied images of car accident victims. Category:Necromorphs